Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’
It’s June. And Cornus time again. We’ve had Flaming June, with the weather at the beginning of the month deliciously warm, sunny and dry. And Flamin’ June when it all gave way, as so often happens these days, to bouts of heavy rain.
Rose ‘Boscobel’
The roses haven’t taken to it too kindly. Following the cooler than average Spring, the recent period of warmth brought rapid growth and an array of lovely fat buds. And then just as they were opening the rain came down. Finding something worthy of a photograph yesterday proved a disappointment as many of the blooms were either shedding petals or balling. Not to worry, maybe when the sun returns there will be more. I shall deadhead. It’s still early in the season after all.
Rose ‘Hot Chocolate’
My latest acquisition. The bunny nibbled leaves are conveniently just out of shot. It’s pretty, but not quite as chocolate in tone as I’d envisaged. More ‘Lady In Red’ than ‘You Sexy Thing’.
Eryngium x zabelii ‘Big Blue’
There are electric blues..
Peony ‘Bowl of Beauty’
..and shocking pinks.
Saxifraga ‘Southside Seedling’
And many of a more delicate form and hue. It’s a balancing act. In a large space it is the bold and brassy that draw the eye and create those enviable drifts of colour. But those on a smaller scale pull equally on the heartstrings.
Saxifraga stolonifera spilling out from underneath an Acer
Classic whites.. Magnolia sieboldii
Cornus kousa ‘Wieting’s Select’
Is it a coincidence that so many of the above also bear a touch of red?
Anemone ‘Wild Swan’
Astrantia ‘Roma’
Insects are drawn to the simpler blooms too. I love how the fly needed an extra petal for support.
Chives
Triteleia laxa ‘Queen Fabiola’
Have a very lovely June.
Hydrangea petiolaris
It will warm up again soon though won’t it? Otherwise we’ll all be in need of some extra bloomers..
Campanula ‘Pantaloons’
pin it?
Linking to Carol and Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens, where you will find a feast of June bloomers from around the world.
Note to email subscribers: My apologies, as a result of a technical issue (now resolved) there was no notification of the previous post on Cothay Manor. If you love gardens this one is a cracker and not to be missed!
Even here in Italy some roses balled from the extraordinary rain. Some of my friends didn’t even know what it was, it so rarely happens here! What you’re showing is gorgeous though; I love those dogwoods, I would love to be able to grow them.
Thanks Christina. The dogwoods are having a really good year, both smothered in blooms! It’s nice to have something that doesn’t seem to mind all the rain.
I love Wild Swan anemone and am growing it here too Jessica – interested to see if the reports of ‘summer till fall’ bloom time are exaggerated. Lovely photos!
The chap I bought it from (a couple of weeks ago) said it would be in bloom for about a month. I can’t see any more buds coming but it’s still a baby. Maybe next year!
Well captured blooms, beautiful photos!!
Thanks. Bit of a challenge this month with the dull light and breeze.
Beautiful, beautiful saxifrage… and so the must-have list lengthens…
Wild Swan was doing wonderfully here, then suddenly, they all turned up their leaves and shrivelled up. I think they got a bit hot, bless them. I am now mollycoddling them and hoping for a late flush of flowers.
Hmmm.. perhaps I shouldn’t have put it at the front of a sunny border then? Although down here ‘sunny border’ may not mean the same..
Despite your weather, your garden is gorgeous. I hope your weather improves. Happy June.
Thanks Brenda. So much to do.. can’t believe how little time I’ve had out in the garden this year what with one thing and another.
Gorgeous bloomers and stunning photography as always. Saxifraga Southside is the sweetest unassuming contribution to a border. And oh for room for any of your Cornus Kousa- all heavenly.
I have ‘Southside’ in a trough which I cover with perspex in the winter. It seems to be thriving and is fabulous in bloom.
Hi there Jessica…..
The weather here has also been upside down….extreme heat foe a few days….and then chilly! And the wind….yikes!
I am always in awe of your wide selection of beautiful blooms…bravo once again!
Hope your weather improves…
Enjoy your week..
Cheers!
Linda :o)
The weather seems to be all over the place this year… again! I really do worry about our climate.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’ – I love it. You captured such lovely photos of all your gorgeous blooms. Happy Bloom Day!
Hi Jennifer and welcome!
That cornus is a fabulous tree. It has brilliant red autumn foliage and fruit too.
More wonderful photographs; and I love your distinction between Flaming and Flamin’. My Lancastrian grandmother would have approved.
There is definitely more of the Flamin’ at the moment. I hope the Head Gardener has gone somewhere a little less wet.
Peony❤️❤️❤️*swoon*
It’s quite a show stopper isn’t it 🙂
What a lovely collection of blossoms and colors. Happy Bloom Day.
Thanks Dorothy. June is indeed a lovely month for blooms.
Lovely blooms!
I’m always glad to see blue in a garden
Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!
I think blue is my favourite colour in a bloom. Thanks Lea.
Hi Jessica, you got quite some nice shots of the plants that are blooming for you in June. Usually I would go for the roses as my favorite plants, but I have to say Eryngium x zabelii ‘Big Blue’ took on that role this post around. What a stunning plant! I would love to see it growing in my garden as well.
Hope the weather returns to summer warmth and summer sunshine for you and your garden!
Warm regards,
Christina
Thanks Christina. The Eryngium are looking very good at the moment. They seem to be relishing the rain and have the additional advantage that the bunnies leave them alone. One of the prickly leaves poked me in the face as I was planting them so I can quite understand why!
Hi…just been looking at my ‘Hot Chocolate’ in the sunshine, a rareish commodity this last week, and it does look more scarlet than usual. I took a photo in softer light a couple of weeks ago when it was a more usual red mahogany….so maybe just the light levels!
Hi Alison and welcome!
The blooms do seem to be deepening as they age so we may get to mahogany yet. I do like it, but I planted it in a border I wanted to be bronzey tones so it will probably get shifted. I’ve also ended up with a pink rose in there but that was because I failed to take the reading glasses to the garden centre. So two roses to move then..
Gorgeous. Superb photos too, as ever. Love that astrantia shot – and the plant, which I hope will decide it likes my front garden after all.
They seem pretty robust, although one of my Ruby Wedding has succumbed to the rabbits. Roma is probably big enough to divide now, so some of it will end up in the prairie planting, as Piet intended. Thanks Janet.
I feel like I ought to try a Damson Cottage homage to your blog, but I fear it would be a bunch of blooms identified in terms of ‘yellow rose’, ‘purple flower’, ‘pretty thing’, ‘no idea but it has spread like a weed.’ And thus, a horticultural disgrace. I shall leave it to the pro!
It sounds as though you have your work cut out. I still have your primroses when you’re ready. Can you email/DM me your address?
Beautiful as always!!
Thanks Amy. I try my best.
You have a glorious collection of blooms this June despite the less than ideal weather. I found myself getting hungry as I moved through your post – ‘Hot Chocolate’ and peony bowls – but then I realized that it’s lunch time here. The mass of Saxifraga had me let out a sigh of frustration as it’s another plant that doesn’t like it here in southern California. However, the photo of Triteleia reminded me that is a bulb that will grow here – now I just need to find a source!
I can imagine the Triteleia will do better for you than for me. The foliage has flopped inelegantly on the ground by the time the blooms open. Thanks Kris.
Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous!
I will take that as a personal compliment. Thanks Hoov 🙂
Stunning plant photos. They are so bright and sharp. I love the Astrantia one especially, but it is hard to choose.
The astrantia photo was one that Mike took on impulse while he was waiting for me to choose the next plant. It turned out rather well!
What a marvelous June you’re having, it’s hard to pick a favourite here, everything is absolutely gorgeous!xxx
There would have been more had it not been for the rain. And the rabbits.. Next year it will be easier. Wait.. I said that last year didn’t I? Thanks D.
Just love that shot with the fly on the astrantia petals! And I’ve been waiting all year to see your cornus kousa come into bloom again 😉 (I had one at one time, lost it to ice damage, and clearly still have a soft spot for it, yes?) Hope your weather lets the roses come back in all their glory; what you do show is lovely. Boscobel in particular is such an attractive warm pink! But it’s the saxifrages that steal my heart…
The pink cornus is just big enough now to start to see the layers beginning to form, with the blooms standing proud on the top of each branch. It really is a lovely small tree. I wait all year for it too!
Everything looks lush from here. We finally got the perfect rainfall but all around us they were deluged. Always seems to be feast or famine in the garden.
Yes indeed. We’ve gone from wet winter, through dry Spring to downpours again. Makes you wonder what’s coming next.
I love every single flower and every single photo ! ‘Hot Chocolate’ seems to color-up differently depending on the season here in Northern California. If you get some heat you may see it get a bit more chocolate-y ; heat to me is over 80.
Thank you. That explains it then.. over 80 is a rarity in these ‘ere parts! But the second bloom has started to open now and I do think it is going to be a darker colour. I shall watch and wait.
Great images of lovely blooms.
Thanks Sue.
Bloomer suberba! What an absolutely stunning collection of photographs. All credit to your gardening skills.
Thanks. Now to get the rest of the garden (the other 99%) looking as good..
Gorgeous Cornus – I was going to try and fit one in till I saw the price!
I bought these two for a previous garden in my working days and even then I bought them small. I’ve since dug them up, nurtured them in pots for three years and then replanted them here. Such an investment needs to pay for itself and they’ve certainly done that.
Wonderful blooms Jessica, I am seriously envious of the Cornus and Magnolia. I had Magnolia wilsonii which is very similar but it wilfully died. It is exquisite and such a lovely fragrance. The Saxifraga stolinefera is just lovely too.
Only a couple of months ago we had to haul the Magnolia up from a 45 deg angle after it suffered wind rock over the winter. I was worried that we might have damaged the roots so am delighted it’s produced the most blooms ever!
The Eryngium is such a fantastic blue! Love your Cornus and your Saxifrage stolonifera is a beauty, I wish mine looked like that.
The saxifrage seems to be double the height it was last year. It must have seen the rain coming and gone for it!
watering every day here—twice a day—just to keep the hydrangeas and fig from curling and giving up. phew. 99 degrees today. heat index? 105 so they say—I’m thinking closer to 210. Needless to say, my garden is not looking as fine as yours!!!!!!!
Steph, I don’t know how you put up with that heat. Kick Freddy off the vent and get yourself some air!
You have so many beautiful flowers to enjoy. The roses look very soggy here, too, after so much heavy rain – and this is supposed to be a dry part of the country! All your photos are stunning, but I love the insects on the astrantia.
I think you’ve had it worse than us because we did at least have a dry interlude and it actually got quite warm for a while. We’re making up for it now though. Biblical rain.
SO much colour. I love the Cornus kousa. I’d love to be able to grow it. I love the tritelia too with the inky blue lines on the petals. Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden Jessica
Thanks Karen. Tritelia (at least here) flops on the ground before the flower spikes appear and I thought I had lost it. It probably pays to grow something low in front of it to hide the foliage.
beautiful blooms and photos of them Jessica, you do have a woodland garden where you can take advantage of all those wonderful woodland plants that need the protection of larger trees and leafmold in the soil mix, it has been raining here too and so cold, Frances
Thanks Frances. The trees and shrubs have been one of the success stories. Perhaps I should concentrate on them more. They would certainly be lower maintenance. Having said that, something has just stripped bark off a prize acer (deer, squirrel?) and the woodpecker has peppered it with holes. I can’t win.
What a lot of beautiful things you have! I particularly like Saxifraga stolonifera spilling out from underneath a maple.
It’s got rather large and I need to split it. Still, plenty of possible places. It really shines out in a shady spot.
Lovely to visit your garden again Jessica, I have looked at Rosa ‘Hot Chocolate’ too before, thinking it possibly could be more brown or more red than what I saw via Google, if your photo is displayed correctly on my screen, yours is fairly strawberry red? Your photo of Saxifraga stolonifera is amazing, maybe I should let mine just fill the whole little bed and relocate the other plants there? That would be something!
‘Hot Chocolate’ seems to be variable even within the same bush. The second bloom definitely has more chocolatey tones than the first one did. It has gained a reprieve, although I was only going to move it elsewhere. It is a lovely plant.
The flowers on the saxifrage last quite a while but even so for many months it is just a low covering of leaves. They look good in autumn with red tints, but if you wanted to keep some height and longer interest in the little bed you might still need the other plants.
Your photos are stunning, Jessica. What a beautiful, varied garden you have. You are so talented.
Not so talented Jennifer, it’s all trial and error. I just keep moving things around until I get something I like!
What a feast of blossoms, gorgeous photos as always. We saw so many magnolias in Italy I have a renewed interest in them. Lovely post, and may the sun shine on the garden soon, and for a long time!
I would love to see some of the classic Italian gardens. You may not have always had the weather but you saw them at the perfect time of year for spectacular plants. Thanks Gerrie.
Beautiful flowers! Astrantia keeps catching my attention lately–perhaps that means it’s time to plant some in my garden! I’ve got some deadheading to do on my roses, as well, for much the same reason as you. Always something, isn’t it?
There is always something. Too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet. The goldilocks zones are too few and far between! Astrantia is lovely. It keeps going all summer and is so easy to grow. Spreads at a nice rate, not invasive but fast enough to split and give you many new plants in just a few years.
Great selection of photos rd, particularly like the saxifrage close-up, it shows just how beautiful the individual flowers are. The weather is fluctuating a bit but my main problem is weeding, all the annual weeds I have already cleared seem to be coming back ten-fold in these relatively warm and certainly damp conditions!
Oh how I sympathise re the weeding. I thought I’d got the garden under control, did have a couple of months ago. You certainly wouldn’t believe it looking at it now.
I love your blooms ! … Especially the cornus … I don’t have any so I drool over other gardener’s plants.
The magnolia is beautiful as well … I just planted Big Blue this Spring and I am hoping to see some serious blooms maybe next year.
Your shots are gorgeous !
Joy
Hi Joy, thanks and welcome!
Big Blue wasn’t the eryngium I set out to get but now that the colour is starting to show I really love it. The colour goes well down the stems too. A real show stopper of a plant.
Many beautiful pictures Jessica, especially Magnolia sieboldii.
Thanks Brian. It’s a beautiful magnolia. I just wish the blooms lasted a bit longer. It’s a big shrub and uses a lot of real estate for a week’s worth of glory. Possibly the dreadful weather foreshortened it this year.
The June weather pattern you’ve had is quite similar to what we’ve experienced here in the Pacific NW. Currently cool after a blast of heat. On tap to turn hot by Monday. I really enjoyed all of our photo’s and especially Astrantia ‘Roma’. Happy GBBD!
It looks like it will be a little less wet here next week but no sign of the heat returning. At least it makes it easier to work outside, as I’m playing catch up. Thanks Jenni.
Beauty! What a super clump of saxifraga too!
Thanks Suzanne.. out of control saxifrage!
It is possible sometimes to have